When you swallow a molar, by J.C. Kavanagh

 

The Twisted Climb
Book 1 of the award-winning Twisted Climb series

Home alone and enjoying my favourite 'me-time' snack: a glass of wine accompanied by lightly salted potato chips and homemade dip (Miracle Whip and Cheese Whiz. No, not yucky - yummy). I bite something extra hard and hesitate mid-chew. My tongue snakes around my mouth looking for the rigid intruder... I don't feel anything unusual. So I swallow. And have a few more chips and dip. But something feels odd inside my mouth. I move my tongue across my upper teeth. All normal. I move my tongue across my lower teeth and snag it on something sharp in the back corner. I press my tongue with more force on this area and dang, it sure feels sharp! Off to the mirror I go. Sure enough, there's half a molar missing and only the old metal filling keeping the other half in place.

OH DEAR! I swallowed my molar. Will I be OK? Will my tummy reject the enameled item and spew it back? What to do?

I did what many people do these days: I googled it.

I type: What happens when you swallow your tooth

Well, like many 'answers' from Google, there's good and there's bad.

The good is that the tooth is digestible, providing of course, that it passes through the narrowest portion of your intestines.

Another good is that you don't require a laxative to 'help' the tooth pass your system.

The bad? 

How to explain to the tooth fairy that there is no tooth under the pillow. Hey - I didn't make this up! It's from Google.

Also bad, and I quote:

"Ingestion of dental foreign bodies, while relatively uncommon, may cause serious, and occasionally fatal, injuries to the airways and gastrointestinal tract. Numerous case reports are available describing the clinical course of such ingestions."

I don't want to know the results of any clinical case reports so I go back to examining my tooth in the mirror. There's no pain in my jaw so the root must be covered by the remaining tooth. That's good!

I go back to my comfy couch and take a sip of wine. AAAAGGHHH THERE'S A NEEDLE POKER ELECTRIC SHOCK and my jaw sings a high C note. C C C for COLD COLD COLD.

Oh, the excruciating pain. What to do?

Well, I didn't have to Google my next step. When you really really want to finish your wine... Isn't that what straws are for? 

Stay safe everyone!

P.S. My dentist fixed me up the next day. Straw no longer required :)

J.C. Kavanagh, author of
The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2)
voted BEST Young Adult Book 2018, Critters Readers Poll and Best YA Book FINALIST at The Word Guild, Canada
AND
The Twisted Climb,
voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers Poll
Novels for teens, young adults and adults young at heart
Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/J.C.Kavanagh
www.amazon.com/author/jckavanagh
Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)
Instagram @authorjckavanagh